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CONSERVATION GROUPS’ COMMENTS <br />UNCOMPAHGRE FIELD OFFICE RMP AND DEIS <br />74 <br /> <br /> The starting point of this authority is the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of <br />1976 (“FLPMA”). Pursuant to FLPMA, the BLM must manage the public lands: <br /> <br />In a manner that will protect the quality of scientific, scenic, historical, ecological, <br />environmental, air and atmospheric, water resource, and archeological values; <br />that, where appropriate, will preserve and protect certain public lands in their <br />natural condition, that will provide food and habitat for fish and wildlife and <br />domestic animals; and that will provide for outdoor recreation and human <br />occupancy and use. <br /> <br />43 U.S.C. § 1701(a)(8) (emphasis added). The BLM, as a multiple use agency, must also manage <br />the public lands and the oil and natural gas resource to “best meet the present and future needs of <br />the American people” and to ensure that management “takes into account the long-term needs of <br />future generations for…non-renewable resources, including….minerals.” 43 C.F.R. § 1702(c). <br />Put differently, the driving force behind agency-authorized oil and gas development is the long- <br />term, and broad, public interest – not the often short-term, and narrow, interest of oil and gas <br />companies. The BLM’s duty to prevent waste must account for this driving force. <br /> <br /> Here, the UFO is required to ensure that these objectives and duties are adhered to <br />through the completion of the RMP, which must, inter alia, “use and observe the principles of <br />multiple use and sustained yield” and “weigh long-term benefits to the public against short-term <br />benefits.” See 43 U.S.C. § 1712(c)(1), (7). Thus, the UFO has a substantive duty to consider the <br />enduring legacy of oil and gas development in land management decision-making, which is to be <br />balanced against other critical multiple use resource values. <br /> <br />Additionally, the BLM, as an agency within the U.S. Department of Interior, is subject to <br />Secretarial Order 3289 (Dept. Int. Sept. 14, 2009). As noted above, Secretarial Order 3289, in <br />section 3(a), provides that BLM “must consider and analyze climate change impacts when <br />undertaking long-range planning exercises, setting priorities for scientific research and <br />investigations, developing multi-year management plans, and making major decisions regarding <br />potential use of resources under the Department’s purview.” Section 3(a) of Secretarial Order <br />3289 also reinstated Secretarial Order 3226 (January 19, 2001). Secretarial Order 3226 commits <br />the Department of the Interior to address climate change through its planning and decision- <br />making processes. As the Order explains: “climate change is impacting natural resources that the <br />Department of the Interior (Department) has the responsibility to manage and protect.” Sec. Or. <br />3226, § 1. The Order, therefore, “ensures that climate change impacts are taken into account in <br />connection with Department planning and decision making.” Id. The Order obligates BLM to <br />“consider and analyze potential climate change impacts” in four situations: (1) “when <br />undertaking long-range planning exercises”; (2) “when setting priorities for scientific research <br />and investigations”; (3) “when developing multi-year management plans, and/or” (4) “when <br />making major decisions regarding the potential utilization of resources under the Department’s <br />purview.” Id. § 3. The Order specifically provides that “Departmental activities covered by this <br />Order” include “management plans and activities developed for public lands” and “planning and <br />management activities associated with oil, gas and mineral development on public lands.” Id.